Open source physical therapy journal housed and edited at RU to premiere soon

A new open source journal, The Journal of Physical Therapy Practice (JPTP), is currently in production and will premiere in June.

Editor Julia Castleberry, assistant professor of physical therapy at Radford University, said the new publication, hosted by McConnell Library, has already received nearly 100 submissions from across the country.

The inaugural JPTP issue will encompass articles, research, information and commentary related to the practice of physical therapy and be publicly accessible at http://journals.radford.edu/index.php/JPTP/.

"People can submit research and commentary on physical therapy practices, or articles pertaining to sports, rehabilitation and general health issues from other disciplines inclusive of the entire health span," said Castleberry.

Castleberry, in consultation with Dean of McConnell Library Steve Helm and Head of Library Technology Bruce Buskill, has developed the JPTP look and site, article rubrics, reviewer team and journal format and standards.  Submissions are encouraged from clinicians, faculty, staff, students and the community and will be reviewed by a national panel of more than 30 health care professionals.

"It is such an electronic age that this seems to be increasingly a way people acquire information and knowledge," said Castleberry. "Reading and publishing in the JPTP is an opportunity to be part of the web dialogue we use to educate ourselves.  I hope it will be easy-to-read and applicable to day-to-day practices and issues."

Castleberry said the healthcare industry is increasingly team-based and that the JPTP will reflect the collaborative environment.  Upon publication of the first issue, JPTP web access will be enhanced through the search engines of Google Scholar and PubMed, search engines devoted to academic research.

May 29, 2014